OUR VIEW: Sprinklers offer more safety with less water

Rutherford County's rapid population growth has transformed many acres of farmland into subdivisions and with these developments come calls for amenities and necessities - such as adequate fire protection.

The county has been moving step by step to put in place a county fire department to help provide this protection, and the latest step came Thursday night when the County Commission approved an application for a federal grant to hire 12 full-time firefighters for two years.

Debate about the application justifiably has centered on what is going to happen when federal funds, if received, are no longer available.

A separate, but related, debate centers on a proposal to require installation of sprinkler systems in new homes that are not within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant or are close to hydrants that do not have sufficient water flow.

Opponents of this requirement indicate that it will add an unnecessary cost to house construction and that smoke-alarm systems are adequate to provide warnings about fires.

A report of the Tennessee Advisory Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, "Fire Service in Tennessee," released June 20, offers a few insights about sprinkler use.

The report notes that Tennessee still ranks in the Top 10 in the country in regard to fire deaths per 1 million population. Writers of the report acknowledged, however, that finding a correlation between spending on fire services and fire deaths in the state is not possible because of inadequate information about fire incidents.

The report cites a University of Tennessee survey of fire chiefs that found the "four most effective strategies to prevent and reduce residential fire deaths" are building codes, sprinkler systems, smoke alarms and public education.

In regard to sprinklers, the report notes that they require less water than fire departments to put out fires because they are triggered instantly near the source and while the fire still is small.

"This is especially important in remote areas and where water lines are small and fire hydrants are either unavailable or marginally adequate," the report notes, echoing the proposed regulation for this county.

Although "building codes" refers to construction standards, Rutherford County's planning standards have been inadequate in regard to provision of fire-protection services.

Why have subdivisions gone on tracts that do not have adequate water supplies or adequate water pressure?

In future subdivisions, sprinkler systems would be tools to help firefighters who did not have adequate water supplies.

Another alternative is to provide adequate water supplies and pressure, but how much would that cost county residents as utility ratepayers?

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OUR VIEW: Sprinklers offer more safety with less water

Rutherford County's rapid population growth has transformed many acres of farmland into subdivisions and with these developments come calls for amenities and necessities ? such as adequate fire

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